The adventures of a Basset Hound living with Addison's Disease...and a baby brother named Winston

Saturday, August 13, 2011

My Little Bro

Some of you already know Winston, but some of you may not. Winston is my little brother (though he's almost as big as me now!). No, he REALLY is my brother...we have the same doggy mom and dad, but we are just from different litters. Crazy, isn't it?! I think it's kinda cool. How did all this happen? Well, here's Winston's story.

Momma was quite happy just having me. "One puppy is enough!" Momma said. But Daddy disagreed. He told her, "Molly needs a friend!" Momma argued against it, since she's the one who is always around taking care of me. She wasn't up for a second puppy...or WAS SHE? On a whim, she checked in with the breeder where I came from and found out that my doggy momma and daddy had another litter of cute basset babies. She looked at the pics the breeder provided and there he was...a cute little boy who was the same color as me and had a silly snout that was half brown and half white. Finally, she broke down and made an appointment to go see this puppy.

So one day, Momma and Daddy got in the car to go see the little guy...and they took me! Turns out the breeder wanted them to bring me so she could visit me. Momma explained that I would get to see my doggy momma and daddy, and also meet my new baby brother. MY WHAT??? NO ONE ASKED ME IF I WANTED A BABY BROTHER!!! As you can see, I was a little concerned by this prospect:So we spent a loooong time in the car and when we finally got there, I was greeted by my doggy mom and dad, who were so happy to see me. I was very, very happy to see them. We played a little and mostly just sniffed each other and everything around.

That's me on the leash nosing my momma...daddy is looking at the camera.

While we were doing that, Momma was having her heart stolen by this little guy:

He was four weeks old and grunted at Momma the whole time she held him. "Molly, what do you think of this guy? Should he come live with us?" I just sniffed him and went back to playing. Whatever, Momma. Winston continued to grunt. We left, but we didn't take any puppies with us. I was hopeful. Maybe all his grunting told Momma that he should stay where he is.

THEN, 4 weeks later, it was back in the car...for a long, long time. What's up? Are we going to Petsmart? The park? The lake? The lake is kinda far away...we must be going there! When the car stopped, we were back at a very familiar place. Then I saw my doggy momma and daddy. Happy day!! Waaaaait a minute! Out pranced all these puppies and they all ran over to me! I didn't know what to do! Momma and Daddy chatted with the breeder lady and then we got in the car...WITH A PUPPY! Momma! What did you do?! Well, I hopped in the front seat and sat next to Daddy, while Momma sat in the back with the puppy from before. You guessed it - the grunter. Well, before we were even on the highway, I looked back and saw this:

He stayed like that the whole way home. I, however, let my feelings be known...by pooping in the car. HA! Take that Momma, Daddy, and Captain Grunty-pants!

When we got home, I begrudgingly showed Winston the yard that he would learn to poop and pee in. Then we went inside and I showed him where the water was, where the food is when it's dinner, and where the toys and our (MY!) dog bed was. He wandered around sniffing everything and even annoyed our orange kitty Nala (he still does this to this day). But we were both tired, so we did this:
I pretended I didn't like him for about 2 days, but then I decided that he was kinda fun. We would chase each other around the house and play with our toys. Momma would take us for walks and to Petsmart. Now here we are, 5 months later and we are still best friends...even though he bugs me sometimes. We do everything together. We even drink out of the water bowl at the same time. I guess Momma and Daddy knew what they were doing when they brought Winston home.
So how did Winston get his name? Well, that depends on who you ask - Momma or Daddy. Daddy always said if they ever got a boy basset, they would have to name him Winston. Daddy knows a grown-up basset named Winston and said he was really cool. I guess big Winston made Daddy like bassets. Apparently this guy can sit on his bum with his front feet in the air. Little Winston can't do that...yet! Me? HA! Forget that!

If you ask Momma, it's a whole other story. Momma is a history professor and she loves Winston Churchill. She says he was a smart, sassy, and stubborn Prime Minister of England during World War II. I know a lot about history from Momma. Also, John Lennon's middle name was Winston. Momma loves the Beatles. She says Winston does too! When she had to take him in the car to the vet to get his stitches out, he cried and cried until she turned on the Beatles. Then he was completely quiet. He has good taste!

Soo cute Miss McFreckles! I'm glad you eventually liked your little bro ;) Your doggy parents are cute too, but you are adorable! How is the addison's medication and stuff going? Bowser's doggy mama and dada had one more litter after him...a litter of ONE! The first litter, with bow in it was 9 (though i found out later that 3 died! I don't know if they were suffocated by the mom, or if it was genes or something) Despite Bowser's bad genetics I really wanted that little girl pup...but it just wasn't going to happen. : ( I really need another basset though! After that last puppy, bowser's mama, Emma, was fixed...and then her owner died! Before that the husband of the lady who died was arrested for identity theft, and had been leading a double life! WEIRD! IT was all a mess. I couldn't have never had Bowser be a show dog even if he didn't have a pink nose, because the papers were falsified since that guy wasn't who he said he was!!ANyway, that's just a dramatic tangent. I still wish i could have gotten one of bowser's brothers or that last sister though...

Winston was from their parents' last litter. Their mom was having some serious allergy issues that required meds, and she couldn't have puppies if she is on these meds. The breeder wisely put the dog's needs first and stopped breeding her. She's been on her meds since the last litter went to their new homes and from what she's told me, their mom is doing well now. I think I sucked it up and got a second puppy when Molly was still young because I really wanted her to have a true brother. Maybe that's silly, but it's true. Regardless, we are happy to have Winston with us.

Molly is doing very well on her Addison's meds. I swear, everyday I see more energy and puppiness come out. She was in a slow decline and what we thought was her growing out of the puppy stage was partly due to the Addison's. She initiates play with Winston now (she was reactive and submissive with him before) and she actually shows him she's the boss sometimes. It's a relief to see. I am so grateful to my vet.

Weird story about Bowser's breeder. I think I remember you posting about that on the forum. Nevertheless, you got sweet, adorable Bowser out of the deal. I'd say you came out on the winning side.

Winston is a sweetie...We have a basset boy named Winston as well. We are huge Drag Racing Fans so Winston got his name for Winston Drag Racing. His official name is Winston "HotRod" Jeakins. BOL...Sniffs, The HoundDogs